In recent years, a folding cellular phone which has a sufficiently secured space as an operation part or a display part while it is used, and which folds and is convenient to carry when it is not used has spread as portable equipment. The folding cellular phone uses a hinge device between a cover body section (receiver section) that serves as a housing and a main body section (transmitter section) so that the cover body section is rotatably connected with the main body section. For portable equipment using the hinge device of this type, a fixing structure is adopted so as not to suddenly open or close the cover body section when the cover body section is expanded or closed.
Examples of the fixing structure include a structure in which the main body section and the cover body section are provided with magnets, respectively, and in which the cover body section is fixed by attractive forces of the magnets, and a structure in which a projected part and a recessed part are provided on butt faces of a fixing section and a rotation section, both of which function as a rotation mechanism of the hinge device, respectively, the projected part and the recessed part are engaged with each other at a specified angle, and in which the phone is fixed while the cover body section is opened at the specified angle.
If a method of including the magnets in the cover body section and the main body section is used, the conventional hinge structure has a disadvantage in terms of a constraint or a weight when the hinge device is implemented to the housing that is formed compact. In addition, if a structure of fixing the cover body section to the hinge mechanism itself is provided, the hinge mechanism is disadvantageously complicated and a care need to be disadvantageously taken for durability, i.e., measures against a wear following opening and closing of the cover body section needs to be considered.
The present invention has been achieved in light of the conventional disadvantages. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hinge device simple in structure, excellent in cost efficiency, and excellent in durability, and a cellular phone using the hinge device.